Tag Archives: diversity strategic planning

A study of CEOs analyzing what CEOs want from their Diversity organizations concluded that CEOs want to see the impact and ROI of their Diversity investments but instead receive only activity and satisfaction data. So, why aren’t Diversity & Inclusion Executives, Managers, Practitioners, etc. measuring their impact and sharing with their CEOs? After all, this is not exactly a revelation. Some of the leading reasons are lack of resources, lack of support from the CEO, lack of funding, lack of skills, etc. My take: these are all just excuses since there are a huge number of resources, books, workshops, etc., available. This strongly suggests that many Diversity Practitioners need a serious skill update or should excuse themselves out of the job. If they remain without these skills, at some point, they may face elimination and/or extinction.

This is the 21st Century, with its emphasis on cutting edge as well as “State of the Practice” technological and analytical advances, yet Diversity Practitioners are using old-fashion measurement skills where the wheels immediately come off of their measurement system wagons. We haven’t been in the “Old West” of Diversity measurement for quite a few decades. State of the Art Diversity ROI processes have been here for quite some time.

Accountability Trends

Many enlightened business managers often take a professional business approach to Diversity, with ROI being part of the strategy. Top executives who watched their diversity budgets continue to grow without appropriate accountability measures have become frustrated with this approach. In an attempt to respond to the situation, they have turned to Diversity Return on Investment (DROI®). Top executives are now demanding DROI® calculations from Diversity departments where they were not required previously.

So, what factors prevent us from mastering Diversity ROI measurement? Here are a few excuses I hear that Diversity Practitioners say are consistently challenging and “Small Doses” to begin to address them:

Small Doses to Bust Up Measurement Myths and Misconceptions

Issue-1: Lack of Skills and OrientationMany Diversity staff members neither understand ROI nor do they have the basic skills necessary to apply the process within their scope of responsibilities. Diversity ROI Measurement and evaluation is not usually part of the preparation for the Diversity job or taught as part of a university education focused on diversity. Also, the typical Diversity training program or intervention does not focus on results, but more on diversity awareness concepts, activities, or other issues. Staff members attempt to measure results by measuring learning only instead of the full range of Diversity performance intervention outcomes (at all 7 levels) that drive business. Consequently, this is a tremendous barrier to implementation that must be changed such that the overall orientation, attitude, and skills of the Diversity staff member are focused on business results, impact, and/or outcomes.

Small Dose-1: Build DROI® Skills and Measurement OrientationDon’t wait until you are asked about the DROI® of your Diversity intervention to gain competency and business acumen in this area, start learning about DROI® today! Attend a Diversity ROI Webinar, Workshop, Read books on Diversity ROI, Use DROI® Tools, etc. (Note: DROI® is a registered trademark of Hubbard & Hubbard, Inc., All Rights Reserved.)

Issue-2: Faulty Needs AssessmentMany existing Diversity interventions are not based on an adequate needs assessment. Some diversity interventions have been implemented for the wrong reasons based on requests to chase a popular fad or trend in the industry. Even worse, they schedule training for everyone in the organization costing thousands or millions of dollars with NO measurable DROI®. If the intervention is not needed, the benefits from the program will be minimal or wasted. A DROI® calculation for an unnecessary program will likely yield a negative value. This barrier can be eliminated by training and certifying Diversity Executives and Practitioner in programs such as Diversity ROI Certification, training and measurement workshops, etc.

Remember: “If there is no verified need you cannot calculate Diversity ROI Impact”

Small Dose-2: Learn the Detailed Steps to Conduct a Comprehensive Needs AssessmentNeeds analysis is the cornerstone of any Diversity performance analysis effort. It provides you with appropriate justification for either developing or not developing your Diversity intervention. You must conduct a needs analysis, no matter how abbreviated, before any Diversity intervention takes place.
The objectives of a needs analysis are to:

Issue-3: FEARSome Diversity departments do not pursue DROI® measurement implementation due to fear of failure or fear of the unknown. Fear of failure appears in many ways. Designers, developers, facilitators, and program owners may be concerned about the consequences of a negative DROI®. They fear that the DROI® measurement process will be a performance evaluation tool instead of a process improvement tool. Also, the DROI® process will stir up the traditional fear of change. This fear is often based on unrealistic assumptions and a lack of knowledge of the process.

Small Dose-3: Overcome FEAR by Taking ActionThe best way to overcome FEAR is by (a) taking action, (b) generating results, (c) evaluating the outcome, and (d) implementing improvements. FEAR is often based on a lack of knowledge so the antidote is to “learn” and “master” the DROI® skills and processes.

Issue-4: Discipline and PlanningA successful DROI® evaluation implementation requires much planning and a disciplined approach to keep the process on track. Implementation schedules, evaluation targets, DROI® analysis plans, measurement and evaluation policies, and follow-up schedules are required. The Diversity Change Management team may not have enough discipline and determination to stay on course. This becomes a barrier, particularly if there are no immediate pressures to measure the return. If the current senior management group is not requiring a DROI® evaluation, the Diversity Change Management team may not allocate time for planning and coordination. Also, other pressures and priorities often eat into the time necessary for an effective DROI® evaluation implementation. Only carefully planned implementation efforts succeed.

Develop Strategic Capabilities and Follow-thru

Small Dose-4: Build DROI® Discipline and Planning FocusThere is really no substitute for implementing a thorough approach to a DROI® evaluation process. The practice of Diversity ROI evaluation should be an “industry standard of professionalism and competence” in the Diversity and Inclusion field and discipline. To do otherwise sets us apart from other professional discipline such as Marketing, Sales, Operations, etc. that require standard metrics and analyses to determine their effectiveness and impact. Diversity ROI impact analysis must be implemented using effective project planning and management skills as well as following the DROI® methodology according to each step in its design.

Issue-5: False AssumptionsMany Diversity staff members have false assumptions about the DROI® process that keep them from attempting DROI®. Typical assumptions include: (a) The impact of intervention cannot be accurately calculated, (b) Operating managers do not want to see the results of Diversity expressed in monetary values. They won’t believe it, (c) If the CEO does not ask for the DROI®, he or she is not expecting it, (d) CDO denial – “I have a professional, competent staff. Therefore, I do not have to justify the effectiveness of our programs”, (e) Learning or this type of intervention is a complex but necessary activity. Therefore, it should not be subjected to an accountability process, etc. These false assumptions form perceptible barriers that impede the progress of a DROI® evaluation implementation.

Use Evidence-based Data for Credibility

Small Dose-5: Eliminate Any False AssumptionsCredible processes rooted in strategic performance-based sciences to calculate Diversity ROI have been in existence for over 30 years. Yet, Diversity practitioners have been slow to enroll and learn what it takes to be fully competent and capable in this scientific discipline. Let’s face it; the DROI® evaluation process and its associated analytics are here to stay. It’s only realistic that Diversity practitioners eliminate any false assumptions, wishful thinking and/or outdated measurement paradigms that prevent them from being effective. In the future, there is likely to be even more demands for DROI® analysis feedback, demonstrated credibility and intervention performance value that tie to the organization’s bottom line.

Sample Diversity ROI Resources by Dr. Hubbard

Using these processes has the added benefit of improving the effectiveness of all Diversity interventions we conduct. Only those Diversity Practitioners who can operate as full strategic business partners will have what’s needed to survive for the long term. Do You Have What It Takes To “Survive”, “Thrive”, and “Drive” Real Business Performance using Diversity & Inclusion? The next move is yours!

Dr. Edward E. Hubbard is President & CEO of Hubbard & Hubbard, Inc. and is recognized as the pioneer and founder of the Diversity Measurement and Diversity Analytics fields. He is the author of over 40 plus books including the ground-breaking “Measuring Diversity Results”, “How to Calculate Diversity Return on Investment”, “The Diversity Scorecard: Evaluating Diversity’s Impact on Organizational Performance”, “Diversity Training ROI”, “The Executive’s Pocket Coach to Diversity and Inclusion Management”, “Measuring the ROI Impact of ERGs and BRGs”, “The Diversity Discipline”, “The Hidden Side of Employee Resistance to Change”, and many more. Dr. Hubbard is available Keynote presentations, Strategic Diversity and ROI Consulting, Training, etc. He can be reached at edhub@aol.com.

In part one; I discussed four of nine steps to improve the alignment of diversity metrics with the bottom line of the business. In this segment (Part 2), I will outline the remaining steps of the methodology which cover a wide range of actions and metrics to build practical approaches to verify the strategic business needs of the organization.

Let’s continue examining the remaining alignment steps…

Step 5: Develop Interventions that are Practical, How-To Approaches

A lot of organizations will say they have diversity measures in place. However, when you actually check them, you see that they are activity counts. They’ll look around and say they’ve established a council or have had a particular celebration on a particular day. And while those are important, senior leaders don’t always see these things as bottom-line outcomes. They’re not looking at how the Diversity process increased market penetrations in key ethnic markets or how the Diversity process has added ‘X’ number of customers. Progressive companies show how they have utilized diversity and inclusion technologies to integrate Diversity process into productivity improvement issues, product quality issues and innovation challenges.

To have credibility, Diversity interventions must be developed in a way that seamlessly integrate with key organizational priorities at critical levels and are designed in a way that employees can use them right away to improve the organization’s functioning. To accomplish this, it may require having the flexibility to move away from pure “academic images” of Diversity theory and venture into the realm of the “live-lab” of real organizational problems and challenges. It means working “hand-in-hand” with line managers as strategic business partners to solve some of the messy problems of performance improvement and change. As Diversity professionals, we must ask ourselves…who am I developing this intervention for…to go along with the latest fad that other organization’s are using or for my internal (or external) clients to help solve their real business challenges? These challenges must be verified with an effective Business Needs Analysis in order to show the benefits and ROI impact.

It is important to stay clear of theories and fads that are not strategically tied to producing organization-enhancing results. Sure, some of them can help create “out-of-the-box” thinking that may help produce new, practical approaches that could generate value. However, these ideas need to be well researched and tested for their practical strategic value and potential impact.

It is also critical to limit “Diversity and Inclusion speak” when working with internal clients and sponsors. As a Diversity professional, we should know the nuances of Diversity and Inclusion processes; however your audience does not have to be masters of it. It may take a while to gain credibility from their vantage point. This credibility will come faster when you are able to demonstrate specific, measurable results in quantitative and qualitative terms. The results and outcomes of the Diversity initiatives must show how the results are tied to the organization’s bottom-line impact. The results you obtain will improve your level of credibility, commitment and involvement, not the merits of theories and fads alone.

Step 6: Get a Handle on Diversity R.O.I. (DROI®)

DROI® is a registered trademark of Hubbard & Hubbard, Inc. All rights reserved.

It is absolutely essential to master the technologies of Diversity ROI (DROI®) analytics and measurement processes for all of the interventions you provide. It is critical to identify interventions, programs, and activities that have a measurable impact on organizational performance.

I have always thought of Diversity as a professional discipline and field of study. However, if it is to be taken seriously as a discipline and field of study, it must possess a structure, framework and critical components that are consistent with other serious disciplines. For example, if we examine the disciplines of Marketing, Sales Operations, and the like, we would find they all have well-defined competencies, proven theories, and applied sciences that under gird their application. These theories and sciences provide a recognized structure, strategy and a set of measurable standards to guide those who work in the field.

If we examine the disciplines that include doctors, engineers, lawyers, and others, they must be certified to practice their craft. There are also certifications for human resource professionals such as the PHR and SPHR certifications offered by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for Human Resource Professionals, the HPI certification for Trainers by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), or the CPT certification for Organization Development professionals offered by the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI).

These fields of study contain specific, identifiable roles that are performed, areas of expertise that allow a practitioner to build specialized concentrations of skills and knowledge within the discipline, detailed outputs produced by these roles, as well as a model of measurable competencies that define specific behaviors that enable the work to be completed with a high degree of accuracy and effectiveness.

As a professional discipline, Diversity ROI practices must align with key objectives and outcomes to operate with similar standards built on a solid framework of both concept and science. These practices must be delivered through the work of competent, credible Diversity professionals using clear standards of excellence linked to business performance. Using our talents and skills, based upon a competency-rich Diversity Discipline Framework™, Diversity professionals will be able to integrate the ideas underlying Diversity and Inclusion with specific measurement strategies and organizational systems theory to create a Diversity-enriched climate that utilizes diverse resources more effectively. Getting a handle on ROI means identifying units of measure for the interventions and activities that have a measurable impact on performance. We must consistently apply measurement sciences, track our interventions, and publish them as Diversity ROI studies such that they can be utilized as “best practices”.

# and Type of Policies and Procedures Assessed for Diverse Workforce Impact

It is important to design evaluations and utilize metrics that are practical and reflect a systemic analysis. For example, use before and after measures which examine Diversity intervention results compared to key measures which are already established and utilized in the organization.

It is also imperative that you are cautious and careful with the procedure to demonstrate how you isolated the Diversity ROI value from all other possible interventions (that could have contributed to the organizational benefit). Be careful what you take credit for. In a Diversity ROI study, it is important that you only list those outcomes you can control which demonstrate a “chain-of-impact” to the outcome. Diversity intervention outputs are “inputs” that fuel contributions to line results. There are usually many intervening variable in the outcome production process. Isolation techniques must include utilizing scientific processes such as control groups, time-series analysis, forecast estimates, etc., to attribute Diversity’s contribution to specific business outcomes and benefits (separate and apart from other contributors).

Step 7: Make Some “Hard-Nose” Decisions About What is Needed

It is essential to conduct a comprehensive Business Assessment or “Needs Analysis” to determine what interventions are necessary to meet the intent of the aligned business objectives. For example, when evaluating an organizational challenge, a practitioner may be partial to a favorite diversity intervention regardless of the problem or need. It is crucial that a scientific approach is taken where effective data collection helps determine the appropriate response, not what the practitioner favors. Performing a comprehensive Needs Analysis is the cornerstone of implementing a solid, credible performance improvement process. It helps practitioners make “hard-nosed” decisions and provides an appropriate justification for either developing or not developing a diversity intervention. We must conduct a needs analysis, no matter how abbreviated, before any intervention development takes place.

If a Diversity Training intervention is required, for example, the objectives of the Needs Analysis are to:

Describe the exact nature of a performance discrepancy

Determine the cause(s) of the discrepancy

Recommend the appropriate solution(s)

Describe the learner population

In general, Needs Analysis consists of the following steps.

Step 1: Identify and describe the performance discrepancies.

Step 2: Determine the causes of the discrepancies.

Step 3: Identify those performance discrepancies that are based on lack of skill or knowledge. Then identify the skills and knowledge needed that is related to diversity and diversity competence.

Step 4: Determine whether diversity training or another intervention is a viable solution.

Step 5: Recommend solutions.

Step 6: Describe the performer’s and organization’s role in behaviorally specific terms that relate to diversity excellence and performance.

How Are Diversity Training Analysis and Evaluation Linked to Diversity Measurement Alignment?

A needs analysis establishes the criteria for measuring the success of training after its completion. A thorough needs analysis should answer the question:

“What good willtraining do?”

A thorough Diversity ROI training evaluation will answer the question:

“What good didtraining do and what was the Return on Investment (DROI)?”

An effective Diversity ROI training evaluation cannotbe conducted unless a thorough needs analysis has been completed. We cannot determine what was accomplished by a Diversity training intervention or program unless we have first defined what the program was intended to accomplish. The Diversity training needs analysis provides baseline measures against which to judge our Diversity training efforts and will help us make the hard-nosed decisions about what is the best way to meet our internal/external client’s need.

Step 8: Get Away From a Program Orientation

Diversity is not a program; it is a process of systemic organizational change. Programs have a beginning and an end. However, people will never be finished with their differences. Therefore Diversity interventions and the metrics that support them must reflect a range that supports the systems and processes that drive real organizational performance. The context for diversity performance is the organization’s business and its objectives. To be relevant and aligned, it is critical to think in terms of the business, its goals, objectives and its performance needs. It requires Diversity practitioners connect to and work in concert with all levels of the organization.

It is reported that many top and senior executives truly support their Diversity organizations and process, but feel they should play a stronger strategic role in the growth and development of the organization. They expect Diversity practitioners to help increase productivity and provide solutions that generate a stronger competitive edge. In effect, both top and line managers are seeking Diversity professionals who can function as “strategic business partners” to solve real business problems which have a bottom-line impact on the organization’s day-to-day and strategic priorities. To successfully align and link Diversity strategies with the organization’s strategic business plan, you must actively pursue top and line managers regarding their specific business problems and speak their language. For example, if we are working with the Finance department, we must be able to talk about their problems and potential solutions using Diversity in financial terms, impacts and consequences. If the problem is focused in the operations area, we must talk in operational terms, etc.

Step 9: Stick With It!

Developing a Diversity ROI measurement capability is a “skill”. And like any skill we must learn what it is, understand its applications, use it, study the feedback from its use and refine the skill until we build a level of competency. This is an expectation for anyone that offers themselves up as an “expert” in a particular discipline or field of study. We expect doctors, engineers, social scientists, technicians, etc., to have mastered their craft in order to trust the solutions and alternatives they suggest. The same is true for Diversity professionals. We must hold ourselves to a high standard whether or not our C-Suite executives and others ask for it.

A critical element of meeting that standard is a strategic alignment with the strategy, structures and systems that drive the organization’s performance. It is imperative to take advantage of learning and listening opportunities that broaden our understanding, build Diversity ROI capability as well as business acumen.

It’s not easy. It will take a lot of work and a heavy persistence for excellence at your craft. It requires that we possess an internal standard that says we do not accept being mediocre at our craft. Developing this expertise won’t happen overnight or without setbacks and frustrations, but it can be done and is worth the struggle. This means that as Diversity professionals, we must develop a “strategic alignment mindset” that places our Diversity ROI measurement efforts on par with any discipline that drives business results and success!

Building an Effective Diversity Measurement System

The creation of an effective Diversity measurement system and “best” practices cannot be a mechanical modeling exercise. It must be preceded by an inspection and utilization of basic business principles. It must focus on organizational and departmental strategic thinking as well as an assessment of the desired quality of work-life. Developing the actual measures is easy compared to the amount of time that should be spent thinking about what is important to the organization’s strategic business objectives and the expectations of the diversity measurement process.

Key steps to building an effective measurement system

Creating an effective Diversity measurement system and process that embodies these concepts involves at least five critical steps:

Review the Strategic Business Plan for Needs

Formulate Research Questions

Design the Study Methodology

Collect and Analyze Data

Implement Solutions and Communicate Results

Each step in the process logically builds on the previous step which generates an evidenced-based framework that creates a “Best Practice” method for proving Diversity’s link to performance.

With proper training and skill/competency development, one of the more critical roles a Diversity Practitioner and Professional can perform is that of a Diversity Performance Consultant/Technologisttm. This role in the Hubbard & Hubbard, Inc. Diversity Discipline Framework requires the Practitioner to design, develop and deliver or evaluate diversity performance solutions; maintain and apply an in-depth working knowledge in any one or more of the diversity performance improvement areas of expertise; take a disciplined approach to assessing individual and organizational effectiveness in the midst of collective mixtures of differences and similarities, diagnose causes of diversity tensions from differences, similarities and complexities, and recommend a set of interventions; as well as design solutions to improve diverse workforce performance and/or solutions to improve the organization’s performance.

I have always viewed Diversity ROI & Inclusion methods as “performance improvement technologies”. I am also a strong supporter of participatory approaches to performance improvement, from involving stakeholders in the identification of needs and their causal factors to determining solution alternatives, selecting the solution, planning and managing the change, and monitoring and evaluating the change. This active stakeholder participation is critical to the sustainable success of any Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) intervention, not only because we gain real buy-in from stakeholders, but also because part of what we do as rigorous Practitioners ultimately, is to change the way people think about and approach D&I performance solutions in organizations.

Diversity Intervention Consulting is primarily focused on a specific transaction, the provision of an intervention (e.g., Cultural Competency Skills for Leaders training), whether it is a specific process or product. In this case, the performance consultant, as “expert,” carries the bulk of the responsibility for delivering the intervention, but does not typically stick around for the consequences of such interventions. Partially rooted in the sociological tradition in new systems theory which views organizations as self-organizing social systems, Performance/Process Consulting provides a different approach. With a Performance/Process Consulting approach, however, the Diversity Performance Consultant/Technologisttm and the client are equal partners who share the responsibility for the desired change. There is a reduced chance of falling into fads or trendy solutions that may be insufficient or not fully applicable to the organizational realities, because both the Diversity Performance Consultant/Technologisttm and the client are partners in the change and its consequences. Both have a stake in the success of the intervention, and both learn lessons along the way. Moreover, they involve others in the organization, so that these lessons learned benefit more than just a few.

I am convinced that the real value of our work is much more than a roster of interventions (no matter how evidenced-based); rather, it is the paradigm shift that we contribute to in the course of our involvement with our stakeholders. Our ultimate value is in the sustainable and positive change of the organization’s performance system that is now able to operate at its goal or outcome level. While neither resource was utilized exclusively, it is certainly worthwhile for us to reflect on our own approach and determine whether we consciously or subconsciously assessed the situation to determine what balance or blend would be of most value for the given situation.

It is always helpful to review our Performance Consulting approach because of the wide range of relevant topics and ROI-based metrics that fit under the performance improvement umbrella. I am fond of saying that “focusing on tactics without a strategic framework is like learning to run faster in the wrong direction”. You cannot make a strategic contribution without a tight alignment and linkage to the business objectives and success metrics of the organization. If you want to have your interventions resonate with the C-suite and line managers of the organization, they must be based in the real bottom-line needs that drive organizational performance. Whether the organizational initiative is diversity training to teach cultural competency skills, selling products to emerging market clientele, innovating new products and services for a global market, delivering healthcare services, serving governmental constituents, meeting a wide range of student needs, improving the customer service experience, etc., “strategically aligned” diversity performance strategies have the best chance at success and sustainability.

Let’s take a look at an example that helps to clarify this relationship. First, among the organization’s strategic objectives, you find a series of crucial performance areas. One of these areas focuses on an objective of improved customer service. Based upon the importance of this area to the business, the diversity organization has created a corresponding strategic objective to analyze and improve service across all demographic market segments. In the second step, you determine that for service to be improved in these targeted markets, the critical success factor areas must include “improved communication”, “culturally appropriate interactions”, quick access, increased satisfaction, and accurate information. Finally, these critical success factor areas lead you to select diversity performance measures and indicators that support each critical success factor area such as the “percentage of multilingual service transactions delivered”, “number of rings to answer” when a customer calls the organization, “percentage of favorable response on your diverse customer satisfaction survey”, etc. This type of alignment drives improved performance and gains top management support.

Both Diversity Process Consulting and Diversity Intervention Consulting can offer strategic value to the organization. The key is how well each Performance Consulting method meets critical needs of the business to drive its goals, outcomes and success. At what value level would stakeholders rate your internal Performance Consulting methods today? What do you need to do differently to enhance your role as a value-added business partner?

Dr. Hubbard is an expert in Organizational Behavior, Organizational Analysis, Applied Performance Improvement and Measurement Strategies, Strategic Planning, Diversity Measurement, and Organizational Change Methodologies. He holds a Practitioner Certification and Master Practitioner Certification in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), a Neuro-science discipline. Dr. Hubbard earned Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Ohio State University and earned a Ph.D. with Honors in Business Administration.

Take Our PollOrganizations depend on their diverse employees to grow their bottom line and achieve the aggressive goals needed to win in today’s global, fast-paced economy. They know the marketplace is full of a diverse group of customers, yet they do not always effectively utilize their diverse workforce members to create innovative, paradigm-shifting solutions.

This guide is designed to help you build your Diversity ROI Business Case to demonstrate value-added by aligning with key business goals and objectives:

Market Share Improvement

Improving Global Leadership and Management Capability

Lowering Costs and Increasing Productivity

Developing New Revenue Sources

Why should you concern yourself with effective Diversity ROI Measurement and Management? In the past, many managers answered this question out of a sense of the “right thing to do” or because they were seeing more and more people who didn’t look like them in the workforce, or merely felt they had to meet the organization’s requirement for working with diverse groups. However, today’s managers know that without effective diversity management capability, organizational effectiveness is in jeopardy. Being effective at managing a diverse workforce for example, helps to lift morale, improve processes, bring access to new segments of the marketplace and enhance productivity of the organization. In essence, it is good for business.

In profit-making organizations, maximizing the difference between revenues and costs optimizes performance. This same goal exists in many non-profit organizations, except that the result is called surplus instead of profits. The question therefore is: “How are workforce Diversity and its management related to revenues, costs, or both?” To answer this question we can explore several concepts and strategies that illustrate the impact of diversity on business performance. These concepts and strategies include items such as marketing strategies, problem-solving strategies, creativity and innovation that can be viewed as important factors in revenue generation.

Marketing Strategies and Market Share Improvement

We live in an increasing global world that is diverse. Whether your business includes marketing financial services, computers, telecommunications products, social services, health care equipment, manufacturing processes, engineering expertise, and the like, expertise in addressing a diverse customer market (Business-Consumer Archetype) will be essential to your success. For example, an automobile manufacturer in Japan cannot afford to ignore the fact that nearly half of all new car buyers in the United States are women. This is true regardless of the gender make up of car buyers in Japan. Likewise, no reasonable person in the consumer-goods industry can afford to ignore the fact that roughly a quarter of the world’s population is Chinese and immigration to the United States from mostly Asian and Latin American countries is occurring at a rate of more than a million people per year.

We know that in the United States, Asians, African-Americans, and Hispanics combined now collectively represent over a $Trillion dollars annually in consumer spending. The Selig Center for Economic Growth (from the University of Georgia Terry School of Management) estimates and projections of buying power for minorities—African Americans, Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics—definitely share in driving business success, and together wield formidable economic clout. As these groups increase in number and purchasing power, their growing shares of the U.S. consumer market draw avid attention from producers, retailers, and service providers alike.

The buying power data presented here and differences in spending by race and/or ethnicity suggest that one general advertisement, product, or service geared for all consumers increasingly miss many potentially profitable market opportunities. As the U.S. consumer market becomes more diverse, advertising, products, and media must be tailored to each market segment. With this in mind, new entrepreneurs, established businesses, marketing specialists, economic development organizations, and chambers of commerce now seek estimates of the buying power of the nation’s major racial and ethnic minority groups.

In a Business-Consumer Archetype (B to C), your diversity measurement strategies and analytics must be “Relationship/Brand Focused”. They must measure your organization’s ability to build customer intimacy knowledge and “use it” in measurable ways to generate outcome-based results that add revenue and other value to the bottom-line. Sample Diversity measurement strategies must focus on areas such as: Cultural Competence, Market Share, Brand, Relationship/Service-based outcomes, etc.

Sample metrics may include:

% Market Share

$ Share of Wallet by Demographic Group

#/% Diversity Competent Leaders/Managers by Demographic Group

#/% New Products generated by Demographic Group and for Demographic Groups

Improvement in Average Speed of Problem Resolution using Diverse Work Team Suggestions

% Favorable Response on Diverse Customer Satisfaction Surveys

In a Business-Business Archetype (B to B) on the other hand, your Diversity Measurement strategies and Diversity Analytics must be “Relationship/Product/Process Focused”. Sample Diversity measurement strategies must focus on areas such as: Innovation, Creativity, Process Improvement, Relationship/Service-based outcomes, etc.

Research to prove the value of Diversity and Inclusion must clearly demonstrate a “causal chain of impact” working through seven levels of analysis as well as isolate Diversity and Inclusion’s contribution from other possible contributors. These processes and sciences are embedded in in the Hubbard Diversity ROI Methodology and the Diversity High Impact Mapping process.

Improving Global Leadership and Management Capability

If an organization plans to sell or deliver goods and services in a diverse marketplace, it must be fully capable of effectively utilizing its diverse workforce in key strategic ways. For instance, it is important from a public relations point of view to be viewed as a company that is known for managing and utilizing its diverse workforce assets well. There are a number of well-publicized ratings for “The Best Company for Working Women and Working Mothers”, “The Most Admired Company” and the “The Top 50 Companies for Women and Minorities”. This fuels a public relations climate where workforce talent and consumers make choices about the organizations they would work for and buy from. This line of thinking is also supported by a study of stock price responses to publicity that changed either positively or negatively on an organization’s ability to manage diversity. Many studies have found that announcements of awards for exemplary efforts resulted in significant positive changes in stock prices while announcements of discrimination suits resulted in significant negative changes in stock prices.

In addition, organizations can gain a lot from the insights of its diverse workforce to understand the cultural effects of buying decisions and mapping strategies to respond to them. Depending on the product or service delivered by the organization, many employees may also represent part of the firm’s customer base! A good reputation inside the organization can help product and service sales outside the organization. Another key marketing strategy includes tapping employee network or resource groups. They can be an excellent resource for focus groups, feedback and ideas for honing the organization’s reach into diverse marketplace opportunities.

Lowering Costs and Increasing Productivity

Revenue increases can also show up due to improvements in diverse work team problem solving and decision-making. Diverse work teams have a broader and richer base of experience to draw on in solving organizations problems and issues. The presence of minority views creates higher levels of critical analysis of assumptions and implications of decisions. In addition, it also generates an increase in the number of alternatives from which the group chooses. Problem solving benefits from diverse work groups do not happen by simply mixing people together who are culturally different. The improved outcomes heavily depend on a diversity-competent manager “utilizing” key diverse insights and experiences of the total group.

In one study, researchers found that properly managed and trained diverse work teams produced scores that were six times higher than homogeneous teams. Researchers also found that it is important how a diverse team uses its diversity. For example, those diverse teams that recognized and utilized their diversity had higher productivity. Even when the team was diverse, if that diversity is not used effectively, it can cause process problems that result in lower team productivity. The essential variable is a Leader’s or Manager’s ability to “effectively manage and utilize the team’s diversity”.

Developing New Revenue Sources

Creativity and innovation can be vital to an organization’s ability to perform. New product introductions, advertising, process re-engineering, quality improvements and the like are examples where these skills are required. Diverse work teams have also been found to promote improved creativity and innovation that generates revenue. In her book “The Change Masters”, Rosabeth Moss Kanter notes that highly innovative companies have done a better job of eradicating racism, sexism, and classism; tend to have workforces that are more race and gender diverse, and take deliberate steps to create heterogeneous work teams with the objective of bringing that diversity to bear on organizational problems and issues. Many organizations such as Pepsico for example, with the introduction of Guacamole Chips, and other innovations, created a plethora of new product SKUs generated by utilizing their diverse Employee Resource and Business Resource Groups.

As the buying power of diverse consumer segments including women, Hispanics, African Americans, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community continues to grow, these segments represent a marketplace opportunity too big for retailers and consumer product manufacturers to ignore, according to “The Changing Consumer and the Workforce Imperative” Report. “This report focuses on how the retail and consumer products industry can unleash our multicultural workforces to achieve results that benefit our employees, our communities and our companies,” said Network Chair Michelle Gloeckler, senior vice president for merchandising execution at Walmart Stores. “Research for this project began at last year’s NEW Multicultural Workforce Conference and the results were previewed at this year’s conference in March. The Network believes that diversity and inclusion is critical to the future of our business.”

The report, based in part on one-on-one interviews with more than two-dozen leading U.S. consumer goods and retail executives, explores the correlation between workforce diversity and the ability of the consumer goods and retail industries to engage the changing U.S. consumer.

“Cultural connections are critical to understanding what drives purchasing decisions and brand loyalty across different market segments,” said Alison Paul, immediate past president of the Network of Executive Women, and vice chairman and U.S. retail sector leader, Deloitte LLP. “Making these connections rely on retailers’ and manufacturers’ ability to not only become more culturally aware-which are increasingly table stakes–but harness and value diverse perspectives as a source of innovation.”

Consumer insights most often come from those who share a consumer’s cultural experience, the report concludes. As such, recruiting, retaining and advancing a diverse workforce are integral to creating a brand/consumer connection, as consumers feel most comfortable doing business with companies whose employees mirror their communities.

According to the report, consumer product manufacturers and retailers may be able to achieve an inclusive culture by first understanding the bottom-line business opportunity, then making a commitment to diversity that touches all company departments. Top management should view workforce diversity not as a stand-alone program, but as an essential element for business survival. Achieving cultural competency involves leadership commitment and communication, employee accountability, strong talent recruiting and retention programs, progressive succession planning, diverse supplier relationships, and effective ROI measurement and analysis processes that capture impacts and results.

Appealing to a carefully segmented, diverse market is no longer only a niche opportunity for adventurous store managers and edgy entrepreneurs: Multiculturalism is fast becoming a retail and consumer goods industry opportunity too big to ignore. The same is true for “B to B” organizations as well. A diverse workforce serving a broadened customer base is a critical success factor because, as market research further demonstrates, a diverse workforce improves service outcomes and enhances financial performance regardless of the specific archetype.

Embracing Diversity as a way of thinking is the most effective response for business leaders and an important driver of an organization’s innovative engine. This means Diversity and Inclusion, and the archetypes that drive its constant performance, need to be brought to the forefront of your value proposition and ingrained in the organization’s cultural DNA. It must become a branded component of how you do business. When an authentic, inclusive culture is at work, a diverse workforce becomes capable of producing a broad range of original and engaging ideas that is simply not possible among homogenous employee populations. At the top of the organization, this can translate into more apt and financially rewarding decision-making.

The Diversity ROI Business Case highlighting the link between “Diversity and Inclusion Utilization” and Business Performance, not merely acquiring “Representation” alone, can be made by utilizing Diversity ROI processes and practices. From a Diversity ROI standpoint, Diversity measures and analytics must capture the outcomes and impact of these Diversity and business strategies in a way that demonstrates compelling evidence of Diversity’s contribution to the organization’s business objectives and results. By using tools such as the Diversity ROI 7-Level Chain-of-Impact, the Hubbard Diversity ROI Methodology, the Diversity High Impact Map, a ROI-based Diversity Scorecard, etc., a strong business Diversity ROI Business Case can be made in dollars and “sense” that clearly shows Diversity and Inclusion as “great for business”!

Dr. Hubbard is an expert in Organizational Behavior, Organizational Analysis, Applied Performance Improvement and Measurement Strategies, Strategic Planning, Diversity Measurement, and Organizational Change Methodologies. He holds a Practitioner Certification and Master Practitioner Certification in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), a Neuro-science discipline. Dr. Hubbard earned Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Ohio State University and earned a Ph.D. with Honors in Business Administration.

Utilizing a focused Diversity measurement system can make a critical difference in the performance effectiveness of your Diversity ROI metrics. In Part One, I gave an overview of a 5 step process to consider and highlighted some key background issues. In this segment (Part Two), I will detail each step of the 5-step process including possible diversity metrics, formulas, and suggestions. Although measuring Diversity Return on Investment (DROI®) impact is not an exact science, there are a number of valid techniques, tools and reliable methods for translating business performance gains into tangible financial results that C-Suite executives will support and embrace. Let’s take a look at the specific steps I am recommending in detail…

Key steps to building an effective measurement system

Creating an effective diversity measurement system involves at least five critical steps:

Review the Strategic Business Plan

Formulate Research Questions

Design the Study Methodology

Collect and Analyze Data

Communicate and Monitor the Results

1. Review the Strategic Business Plan

If diversity is to address the strategic business challenges of the organization, then it is imperative that the needs of the business are understood. The best place to start is the strategic business plan. The strategic business plan (or its equivalent) can offer a wealth of information regarding areas where diversity can make a difference or contribute. It is critical to examine the mission of the organization, key goals and objectives, core business strategies and tactics, marketing and sales targets, production or operational issues, recruitment and retention issues, succession plan challenges, productivity issues, legal compliance concerns, customer service challenges, globalization plans, and the like. Each of these areas should be examined to determine where diversity could have a direct or indirect impact on the business. The results of this activity should form the basis for creating your diversity initiatives.

2. Formulate Research Questions

Know what you want to know. This involves formulating research questions that help give you answers for establishing baseline diversity measures or calculating change and impact. Useful approaches for formulating research questions include starting broad then narrow the focus. Using strategic business plan information as your guide, focus on helping the organization solve and/or prevent business problems as well as improving business operations. An example might include questions such as “What is the distribution and retention impact of females and minorities in management positions above the first level?”, “What is the diversity makeup of our customer base by product line and market share?”, “What factors make the difference for high productivity among diverse work teams and their impact on customer service ratings?”, “What percentage of mothers return to work after maternity leave by diverse groupings compared to industry and majority group norms?”, etc.

These research questions should help align and link the diversity initiative with the strategic plan. If they are systemic, diversity initiatives will also proceed along several lines at the same time. Activities such as child-care services, flexi-time, flexi-place strategies, parental leave options, mentoring, and others could be in action simultaneously. Let’s suppose that at the end of a two-year period, management notes a 45 percent decrease in turnover among female managers. The impact of this decrease is an identifiable value to the organization in lower recruiting and training costs. However, which of the above programs caused the improvement during that period?

Most of the time, diversity can take only partial credit for improvement. To help isolate the effects of an initiative from other factors that could have affected the result, you will need to go beyond standard control group analysis to use one or more techniques for isolating extraneous factors. Three techniques, in addition to control group methods, include:

Trend-line analysis – Using a graph of mothers returning to work after maternity leave, for example, a line is drawn from current percentages to future percentages, assuming that the current trend would continue even without diversity initiatives. After the diversity intervention is implemented, post statistics are compared to the trend predicted on the trend line. It is reasonable to attribute any improvement over the trend-line prediction to the diversity intervention. It is not an exact process, but it does provide a reasonable estimate of this diversity intervention’s effectiveness.

Forecasting – This approach is more analytical and mathematical than the trend-line. Instead of drawing a straight line, a linear equation is used to calculate a value of the anticipated performance improvement or impact. A linear model (such as y = ax+b) is appropriate when only one variable influences the result. When several variables intervene, it’s necessary to use sophisticated statistical models. Without them, forecasting is difficult to implement. Still it can be an accurate predictor of performance variables without the diversity intervention, if the appropriate data and models are available.

Employee and Supervisor Estimations – This approach involves asking employees and supervisors to determine how much performance improvement or environmental change is due to specific diversity interventions. Their actions have produced the improvements, so they should have some idea of how much improvement is due to their participation and use of the diversity initiative. Upper management will tend to find these reports credible because employees and supervisors are at the center of these improvements or changes. Employees’ and supervisors’ input can be obtained by asking questions such as “What percentage improvement can be attributed to the implementation of the ‘XYZ’ diversity initiative?”, “What is the basis of your estimation?”, “What degree of confidence do you have in your estimation?”, “What other individuals or groups could make an estimate?”, “What other factors do you think contributed to the improvement?”. To be conservative, it is recommended to factor in a confidence level. For example, if an employee estimates that 50 percent of an improvement seen in turnover statistics among Hispanic employees is due to the minority career development network initiative but is only 70 percent confident about that estimate, multiply the confidence percentage by the improvement percentage and divide by 100, for a confidence level of 35 percent. Then multiply that figure by the amount of the improvement in order to isolate the portion attributed to the diversity intervention. To calculate return on investment (ROI), convert that portion to a monetary value.

3. Design the Study Methodology

This step in the process involves creating a formalized plan of action, which spells out how you will address each research question and the potential tools used. A complete plan should address questions such as “What existing measures can be adopted to measure these areas?”, “What benchmark or compatible measures are available?”, “What is the priority or order of measures by criticality level?”, etc.

4. Collect and Analyze Data

The data collection and analysis process requires the use of specific formulas and techniques designed to assess the research questions. These formulas and techniques might include calculations such as Cost per Diversity Hire, Percent Change in Local and Global Customer Diversity Demographics, the Family of Measures Index, Diversity Hit Rate, Diversity Training Evaluation using the Kirkpatrick Model-Levels 1-5 surveys along with ROI calculations, etc. For example, to measure the distribution of performance and retention impact of females and minorities in management positions above the first level, you might use the following calculations:

Diversity Hire Performance Impact – Formula: DHPI = DHPR+DHP+DHS/N where: DHPI = Diversity Hire Performance Impact, DHPR= average job performance rating of new diversity hires (e.g., 4 points out of a 5 point performance rating scale = 80%), DHP= Percentage of new diversity hires promoted within one year (e.g., 45%), DHS= Percentage of new diversity hires retained after one year (e.g., 90%), N= number of indicators used. Therefore, the percentage would calculate as DHPI = (80+45+90)/3 or (215)/3 = 71.7%. The resulting percentage is a relative value. You must determine whether this value represents high, medium, or low performance impact for this hire group. This comparison can be based on historical comparisons, preset performance standards or objectives, or management mandates.

In order to have maximum impact in demonstrating diversity’s value to the bottom-line, it is vital that percentage calculations are converted to financial terms (dollars and cents) whenever possible. These percentages might convert to a preventative cost savings such as a turnover dollar saving, lower recruiting costs, or a benefit such as increased customer satisfaction ratings, added customer purchase volume, improved employee morale and productivity (measured in increased units per hour, faster problem resolution using diverse teams which results in reduced cycle time, speed to market), etc.

For the most part, any object, issue, process, or activity that can be described by observable variables is subject to measurement. Phenomena can be evaluated in five dimensions of measurement: cost, time, quantity, quality or frequency of occurrence.

The central issue in applying measurement to the diversity culture change process is to decide what is worth measuring and agree on the measure as a fair representation of progress and accountability. Which measurement tools you use will be determined by what you want measured and what results you want from the measurements. Direct measures are always identifiable by the fact that they measure some kind of cost. Indirect measures do not cover costs, but do describe some measure of time, quantity, or quality.

Report card measures of diversity are like snapshots of the past. They can provide a historical reference to accomplishment or serve as milestones along the path to producing outcomes. Examples might be the number of diversity training sessions completed, cost per diversity trainee hour, turnover by performance level by gender by length of service.

5. Communicate and Monitor the Results

Reporting your diversity results is almost as important as producing the results. Regardless of the message, at least three general rules are important to remember:

The communication must be targeted to specific audiences – The communication will be more efficient when it is designed for a specific group. The message can be tailored to the interest, needs and expectations of the intended audience. The length, content, details, and slant will vary with the audience.

The communication should be unbiased and always modest – Facts must be separated from fiction, and accurate statements must replace opinion. Some target audiences may view communication from the Diversity Department with skepticism and may look for biased information and opinions. Boastful statements will sometimes turn individuals off, and most of the content of the communication will be lost. Observable, believable facts carry more weight than extreme, sensational claims, although the claims may be needed to get initial attention.

The communication must be consistent – The timing and content of the communication should be consistent with past practices. A special communication at an unusual time may create suspicion. When a particular group, such as top management, regularly receives communication, the information should continue even if the results are not good. If selected results are omitted, it might leave the impression that only good results are reported. Find out how you can become a regular participant and presenter in key departmental staff meetings. Encourage others to join your staff meetings to create strategic partnerships. Finally, be sure to develop good measurement monitoring practices. This will ensure a continuous feedback loop to meet the organization’s informational and development needs in a responsive manner.

Start your measurement journey

I hope that this article will help you begin the journey of measuring your diversity results. You can use measurements to identify winning approaches and processes that work to transform the organization’s culture to a more inclusive environment. They can help you increase the value of your workforce diversity efforts by providing focus and demonstrating organizational impact. If full utilization of the diverse workforce is to be a reality in our lifetime, we must use every tool or resource available to fully monitor and communicate the effectiveness of this effort.

Each step in the process logically builds on the previous step which generates an evidenced-based framework that creates a “Best Practice” method for proving Diversity’s link to performance.

If you put these steps in operation, we want to hear about your experience and share it with others. Let us know about your success with the Diversity ROI metrics process to help elevate the field.

Dr. Edward E. Hubbard Short Bio

Dr. Edward E. Hubbard is President and CEO of Hubbard & Hubbard, Inc., (http://hubbardnhubbardinc.com), Petaluma, CA, an international organization and human performance-consulting corporation that specializes in techniques for applied business performance improvement, workforce diversity measurement, instructional design and organizational development.

The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) inducted Dr. Ed Hubbard into the prestigious “ASTD New Guard for 2003”. The July/August 2007 Issue of Profiles in Diversity Journal featured Dr. Hubbard as the “Diversity Pioneer” in Diversity Measurement. In April, 2012 Dr. Hubbard was an honoree at the Inaugural International Society of Diversity and Inclusion Professionals Legends of Diversity Ceremony in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico where he received the Legends of Diversity Award for establishing the “Diversity ROI Analytics” and “Diversity Measurement Fields/Disciplines”. Dr. Hubbard serves on the Harvard Business Review, Diversity Executive Magazine and Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Management (SDIM) magazine Editorial Advisory Boards.

Dr. Hubbard is an expert in Organizational Behavior, Organizational Analysis, Applied Performance Improvement and Measurement Strategies, Strategic Planning, Diversity Measurement, and Organizational Change Methodologies. He holds a Practitioner Certification and Master Practitioner Certification in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), a Neuro-science discipline. Dr. Hubbard earned Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Ohio State University and earned a Ph.D. with Honors in Business Administration.